


Ghost of Winterfell

by Thisismecoping



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dream Sex, F/M, Ghost Sex, Ghosts, Halloween, Haunting, Not Beta Read, but not dead people like corpses, ghost as in dead people not Ghost the dog you perverts, god dammit, rush job, sexy ghosts!, why is 'ghost sex' the first tag that pops up when you type in 'ghost'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 19:33:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21258494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisismecoping/pseuds/Thisismecoping
Summary: Modern AU ghost story. Dany decides to take a much needed vacation North before their final year of university and ends up haunted by ghosts from the past.Happy Halloween!





	Ghost of Winterfell

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta read and kind of rushed out in time for Halloween, so please forgive any glaring mistakes I might have missed, there is probably more than a few. 
> 
> It's a ghost story! Kind of, sort of. Yeah. Read, review, kudos all that crap if you want. 
> 
> Happy Halloween. Hope you enjoy.

"-and some say he still haunts the Wall. That during some nights you can still see him standing watch, waiting for his love to return and forgive him for what he had done." 

The cable car lurched, eliciting a few screams from some of the younger passengers inside. Dany smirked, the timing of it so perfect she wouldn't be surprised if it was a scripted part of the tour. She shot a smile at her friend Missendai who was grinning as well. 

This had been a good idea, a vacation before their final semester of University. A moment of peace and carefree fun before her hectic schedule swung back into full swing. She glanced towards Missendai and Grey who were entwined in each other's arms near the rear of the car and away from the windows, then glanced back out at the Northern landscape. 

Truthfully she had wanted to go to Dorne, a week lazing around in the sun on some beach with no one to bother her had seemed much more appealing then snow-covered peaks, but now that she was here, she had to admit the North had a charm of its own. Those snow-covered peaks were quite the sight and the pure vastness of it all was something to behold. 

"Why would she forgive him?" a younger voice called out, defiant, as the cable car climbed its way to the top of the seven-hundred-foot wall. 

"Because she loves him." The tour guide replied smoothly. He was a portly man in his mid-twenties and he wore a mildly skull-shaped pin on his hotel uniform with 'The Ghosts of the North tour' scrawled over it. 

"But he killed her? Why would she love her murderer?" the teenage girl asked. 

"It's a tragic tale," the tour guide answered. 

Yes so tragic, Dany thought and shook her head. Even in the south the story of the King in the North and the Dragon Queen was well known. But up here, in the North, it seemed to be much more popular.

King and Queen fall in love, Queen goes crazy, King kills Queen and saves the world. Stricken with grief King goes north and is never seen again. A little misogynistic sure, and the writing wasn't going to win any awards, but what could you expect from a thousand-year-old ghost story. 

"Tragically cliché," the teenager shot back as if she and Dany were of one mind. Dany smiled and continued to look south at the vast untouched wilderness. 

"I thought he haunted Winterfell." another young voice added. 

"No, it was Castle Black," chirped another. 

"I heard he wanders beyond the Wall, and his pack of ghost wolves kills anyone who goes into the haunted forest."

"I'm pretty sure there's a Starbucks in the Haunted Forest, I think you'll be safe from ghost wolves." 

Dany and Missy shared another smile as the teenagers in the cable car with erupted into an argument about ghosts and wolves and if ghost wolves were real. 

The guide's lips thinned into a tight awkward smile, but he was saved as the car lurched to a stop and a loud ding announced their arrival at the top of the wall.

~

Dany let out a groan and stretched as she walked out of the restaurant that was built into the top of the Wall. The Northern food had been a great, a beef and venison stew on top of freshly baked bread with a gravy she couldn't describe as anything but heavenly. It was delicious but it was also the type of food that demanded a nap afterwards and she was feeling its full effects. 

"Ice wall climbing? Should we zip line down? Bungie jump?" Grey asked as he looked over the brochure he had picked up from gods know where. She saw Missendai shudder, her eyes kept firmly in place at the center of the walkway. 

"Wasn't this your idea Missy?" Dany said, earning a glare from her friend. 

Dany took a step forward to the railing, dodging around a group of kids running by. She stepped to the ledge until her body pressed against the railing and peered over. 

A cold brisk wind and seven hundred feet of empty air greeted her, she leaned ever so slightly and looked down, it was almost as if she was flying. 

It was hard to believe something so massive had been built so long ago, and for what purpose? Whatever it was it hardly mattered now, the ancient Castle at the bottom of the Wall had been replaced with a hotel. Restaurants and gift shops were built into the wall, there was even a small amusement park. Castle Black was the base of a constant stream of events and festivals and carnivals. There were annual races up the thousand-odd steps to the top, ice climbing and base jumping competitions. Whatever the Wall had been, it was now a tourist trap. 

"Gods, I don't know how you do it," she heard Missendei say from behind her and then twisted around and smiled at her friends. 

"It's freeing," she said, "you should try it." 

Missy responded with quick shake her of her head and tightened her grip around Grey. 

"We're on top of the world, what do you want to do?" Dany asked and turned back to the view. It was a beautiful sight, trees and mountains as far as she could see, even the streets and railroads running south were hidden by a light covering of snow leaving the landscape pristine, untouched as if she was the first to ever venture this far north. 

"-almost sunset, this is the most common place people have seen his apparition." 

Dany's attention turned to the tour walking past. The same guide as before, the same rowdy teenagers.

"I heard he isn't even a ghost, instead he was brought back to life to save the world and now he can't die, so he hides in the woods beyond the wall," one of the kids argued. 

"That makes no sense." 

"Ghosts make no sense," bit back another. 

The tour group pushed past heading toward the zip lines. 

"They lay it on pretty thick here. Maybe we should go on a ghost tour too?" Missendei said as she inched herself closer to Dany and the edge of the Wall. 

"You're the one that wanted to come North in October, tis' the season and all that," Dany replied, she watched the tour group go, the guide pointing out things as they went. 

Missendei just offered a shrug in return and all three of them looked out at the great expanse that was the North, taking a moment to take in the view. 

"I'm sorry." 

Over the wind, Dany barely heard the whisper-soft gravelly voice. 

"Hmm?" she hummed in response absent-mindedly, then turned half expecting to see someone trying to get past her, or maybe needing her to move. 

There was no one there. She twisted around, finding only her, Missendai and Grey standing on that section of the wall. 

"What?" Missendei asked.

Dany shrugged, "Nothing-" she glanced around once more slightly perplexed. "So..." she paused for dramatic effect, before nodding her head eastward down the wall where her best friend's greatest fear lay waiting, "zipline?" 

"No, no, no," Missendai pleaded as both Grey and Dany began dragging her towards it. 

~ 

If myth and legend were correct Castle Black had once housed the men of the Night's Watch, an ancient order that vowed to protect the realms against evils beyond the wall. Or, if other myths and legends were correct, it was a prison meant to hold the worst Westerosi criminals. Either way, it was now home to a hotel and resort. Most of it now had been outfitted to look like a gaudy haunted house to please the tourists during the Halloween season. 

Animatronic ghosts and ghouls, zombies and white walkers lined the halls, machines blanketed the ground with fog and eerie music played over every available speaker. There were more fake cobwebs then she thought possible. 

Kids of all ages ran through the halls and courtyard screaming and yelling and laughing. 

Dany curled her knees up into her chair, hugging the cup of hot chocolate close. It had been a long day, and she doubted she would ever forget the sound of Missendai's screams as they shot down the zip line. She still had no idea how Grey had managed to talk her into that one. After their little adventure her friends had wandered off so she had hunkered down into the cozy little café lounge in a small nook beside a window and watched the people enjoying themselves in the courtyard outside and tried not to think about how this threesome was originally meant to be a foursome. 

It seemed the Wall attracted everyone from young to old, they were children, seniors, and young couples in love, even enormous white red-eyed dogs. 

For a second she thought she had been seeing things, but there it was, a strikingly white dog, if she could even call it a dog. It was taller than most of the people that walked by it, people that were seemingly unfazed by what could only be described as a giant wolf lounging feet from where they were walking. 

She paused, brow furrowed, it had to be some kind of stuffed animal, a prop used for the haunted house. 

The wolf titled its head at her, it was staring right at her.  _ An animatronic maybe?  _

She stood, drink in hand and kept an eye on the wolf for as long as she could before she turned and headed to the door. She shivered as she left the café and pulled up her collar to get the freezing wind off her neck, then glanced across the courtyard hoping to get a better look. It was still standing there on the far side of the courtyard, unmoving, its red eyes watching her. 

Children walked by, men and women, other animals on leashes all passing without care, without taking notice.  _ It had to have been a prop. _

She made her way halfway across the courtyard dipping and darting around crowds of people needing to fulfill her curiosity. 

The wolf stood, rising off its hind legs, and she stopped in her tracks, it was even larger than she had thought. It's head tilted, blood-red eyes regarding her for a moment before it turned and slowly trotted off into the shadows. 

It wasn't a prop, curiosity sated, or it should have been. Dany hesitated on the edge of the courtyard. It must have been someone's pet, a wild animal wouldn't have sat in the packed courtyard.  _ A wolf-dog hybrid, with the amount of space in the North they probably as popular as Pomeranians were in King's Landing,  _ she told herself. 

_ Someone's lost pet probably, she should probably follow it, find its tags, return it to its owner.  _

"Dany!"

She heard her name, turned and saw Missendei coming towards her. 

"Come on! We just heard about this great bar down the Wall a bit." She said before grabbing her hand and pulling her away. Dany gave one glance back. The wolf was still there, half covered in shadow still watching her.

~

Whoever Missendai had got her tip from wasn't wrong. The bar, The Night's Watch, was packed, maybe too packed, and they definitely knew how to mix a drink. 

"What about him?" Missy asked, nodded towards the bar. 

The music was loud she could barely hear her friend, but she didn’t need to hear her friend to figure out what she was saying, the look on her face told her more than she needed to know. 

Dany rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink, "It's too soon, I just broke up with Daario." she replied in what could only be described as a whispered yell. 

"It's never too soon to get over that piece of shit, and besides this our last night at the Wall before we head to Winterfell, what better time to hook up and have a little fun." 

Dany shook her head and continued to nurse her drink. 

"What about him?" Missendei asked again, nodding in a new direction. Dany didn't even look and just smiled at her friend. 

It was too soon, a little alone time was good. She stretched back in the tiny booth they had managed to snag and watched the room until her eyes caught on someone near the back of the room. 

She felt herself blush realizing whoever he was he was staring right at her. Dark eyes and hair, his hair pulled back into a bun, attractive. Northern. 

She smiled coyly then turned to Missendei, "What about him?" she asked and nodded towards her mysterious stranger. 

Missendai's eyes lit up with excitement "Really?" she said pausing before she leaned forward and looked, "Who?" 

Dany laughed, then shook her head, "you're incorrigible." 

"And you're no fun!" Missendei whined before sinking back into her seat. 

Her head still shaking and still smiling Dany nodded to the washrooms then stood, Missendei moved to stand then stopped when Dany shook her off. 

"I'll be fine, sit, stay," she told her friend. 

Thankfully there was only one girl waiting. She joined the queue, pulled out her phone and began scanning her socials for a moment before stopping and glancing back at the bar. 

She scanned the room, looking for her mysterious stranger. He was pleasing to look at and she always did have a thing for Northern accents, maybe a conversation wouldn't hurt. 

Someone must have opened a door because a shiver ran down her spine as if the temperature had dropped ten degrees. She shook, shuddering slightly.  _ Shitty insulation.  _

"Fuck this," the girl beside her muttered slightly on edge before he hurried away and back into the bar. Dany watched curiously as she rubbed her hands over her arms, regretting leaving her jacket in the booth. 

The door of the washroom swung open, a tall skinny redhead coming out giving her a disdainful once over before brushing past her. 

She shrugged and entered the bathroom, happy that it was unoccupied, clean, and smelled of winter roses instead of piss and shit. 

"Fuck its cold," she muttered and blew into her hands before giving herself a once over in the mirror. 

The lights flickered. 

"Dany." 

She spun on her heel, eyes wide, twisting around to the empty bathroom. 

Someone had said her name. She had heard it. 

The bathroom was barely six feet by six feet, nothing more than a toilet and sink and garbage bin. She eyed the corners of the room as if someone could hide there. 

Music from the bar came in through the door, through the vents, but it was loud, but dulled, muddled. Whoever had talked, whoever had said her name, it had been like he had been in there with her. 

"Hello?" she asked and felt flush with embarrassment. No one answered. 

She sighed and shook her head, _ stupid,  _ she thought to herself _ .  _

The lights flickered again. 

"Fuck this," she yelped before grabbing the door swinging it open and nearly running back to her friends. 

~

Dany groaned and rolled to her side and did her best to bury her head into her pillow. Another cheer erupted from beyond her door followed by a rambunctious round of laughter.  _ Too much noise, _ why couldn't they just let her sleep for Gods sake. 

She sat up with a sigh, pressing the palms of her hands into her eyes in an attempt to rub the weariness away. She reached blindly for the soft white hotel robe and wrapped it around her body and pushed her feet into the matching slippers. 

There was a crash, a gasp then more laughter as she stood up and stalked towards the door and pulled it open ready to give whoever had decided to set up a drunken party outside her room a piece of her mind. 

Curiously enough there was no one there, but someone had draped canvas cloth across the adjourning wall and ceiling. She squinted through sleep blurred eyes then looked down the hall. 

The whole hall seemed to be the same, set up to give the impression she wasn't in a brick and stone hotel, but instead a tent. 

Two men walked by, not even noticing her, they wore thick furs and leather. One of them looked to be clad in a steel breastplate with a sword strapped to his side. 

She could not remember a costume party being on any of the event hotel's schedules or think of a reason they would hold one in the middle of the night. 

More cheers and jeers came from down the hall, she could smell the strong scent of smoke, meat, and ale. It didn't make sense, there was no dining halls on her floor, or no suites large enough to host a party as loud as the one she was hearing. 

Curiosity got the better of her so she left her room and wandered down the hall barely taking note that the ground turned to dirt. 

There were dozens of them, men and women dressed similarly to the two that had passed her earlier, all crowded into a large room done up like the hallway so it looked more like a tent than an event hall in a four-star hotel. 

They had even managed to set it up somehow so the canvas covered walls moved as if the wind was pushing on them from the outside, and went the extra mile and turned the a/c on to let random bursts of freezing cold air to simulate a winters wind. They had open fires inside the hotel, a fire pit in the middle of the room that would never have passed a fire inspection. It hardly made any sense. 

People cheered, men and women danced and drank and some even broke into song, she couldn't help but smile and forget she was still in her robe and wearing slippers. 

She wondered if Missendai and Grey were somewhere in the crowd, they must have also heard the commotion. She took a step forward, hoping to find them when she saw it. The white wolf, lazing under a table, its red eyes watching her. 

Then she saw him, the man from the bar, an oddly familiar face even if she didn't even know him. But he wasn't alone, his hands were wrapped around a woman with silvery blonde hair, wearing a white cloak, her own hands around the man's waist. 

Her heart nearly stopped. 

"What?" she muttered to herself, taking a step back. It was her, or at least someone who looked near identical to her. Her hair was longer and braided and she might have been a little more blonde, but her face, it was the same face she saw every morning in the mirror. 

She looked away, she was going mad, or this was some weird dream- she looked back up and found herself staring at herself. 

_ Nope _ , she thought and turned to leave, escape back to the safety and sanity and her room only to walk straight into a firm chest of a man. His hands came up to steady her, her hands went to his waist for the same reason. 

"Hey," he said softly, in that northern accent she liked so much. 

She looked up shocked, it was him, the man from the bar, the man who had been holding her twin. 

"Hey," she replied dumbly, her mind a jumble. The room was so cold, and he felt so warm. She leaned forward closer to him until she could smell the smoke of the fires, the pine of trees,  _ winter roses.  _

He looked at her like he knew her, like he loved her, it was enthralling. She swallowed hard. 

_ Who are you? What is going on? Where am I?  _ A dozen questions ran through her head,  _ why do your hands feel so good on my hips?  _

"What is this?" she asked instead, not knowing if the question would even make sense. 

It would have been easy to miss the slight slump in the man's shoulders. The way he shrank slightly at her question, the sadness and confusion that crept into his eyes. But she could see it, clear as day, and even though it made little sense she couldn't help the pain of regret that crept through her. 

He smiled at her softly, caringly, then looked up at the crowd. "Maybe the last chance to make a good memory."

She couldn't help but think about him holding that woman, that woman that was her but wasn't. the look in their eyes, their tender touch. Love, they loved each other. 

She looked back to where she had seen them. They were gone. The rest of the room, the men and women, their laughter and shouts all faded and unfocused until it felt like they were the only two people left in the world. 

She felt the loss of his hand on her waist and her body leaned closer into him without thinking. Then he touched her cheek, a feather light caress that she could barely feel. His eyes darting from hers to her lips and back. 

"Come," he whispered, pulling lightly towards the exit of the tent. 

She was in a hotel robe and wearing slippers, she wasn't even sure if she had locked her hotel room door, she shouldn't be going anywhere with a perfect stranger no matter how attractive he was. Especially with how attractive he was. 

She nodded and let him lead her away from the crowd. 

The room looked nothing like a hotel room, it was rustic and old, everything looked worn and well used, a wood bed, the ground was dirt covered by rugs.  _ Dirt _ , she thought frowning. There was a fire, not gas or electric, she could hear the wood crackle, feel the heat, smell the smoke. 

She turned to face him, watching transfixed as he pulled the robes off his shoulder. 

"What's going on?" she asked, 

His response was almost shy. He looked at her, a coy smile crossing his features. 

"We're almost at Winterfell," he said,  _ what? she was still at the Wall _ . "There will be much to do and I fear the Northern lords-" he paused and looked frustrated, "they're foolish scared men and they will act like foolish scared men. It will be trying and I want-" 

"What do you want?" she asked, not sure why. 

He looked at her then, really looked at her, eyes piercing, he stood up slightly taller then took a step forward as if he was a wolf stalking his prey. 

"You," he whispered huskily, "us," he added. 

"That's- I-" she stuttered out as surprised by his forwardness. But as he moved closer, close enough she could feel the warmth of his body, smell him, could hear his own ragged breathing she found herself not caring. 

His thumb traced her chin, cradling her jaw, he leaned forward, close enough to touch, close enough to kiss. Her lips parted in anticipation, but the kiss never came, instead, he lingered there until she thought her heart might burst. 

_ Have a little fun,  _ is that Missendei had told her? 

If he wasn't going to do she would. She leaned up, lips pressing against his. His lips parted, tongue slipping against hers. She sighed and sank into him as he removed whatever distance there was between their bodies. 

And then it was like a dam instead her broke, she deepened the kiss with a moan, her hands clutching at his head possessively. His hands went to her hips, then slipped around her cupping her ass, squeezing then lifting. 

She groaned against his mouth, gasping as he lifted her up like she weighed nothing. Her legs wrapped around him, squeezing him tight against her own body. She felt him hard against her, and gods did she want him. 

It was like she was possessed, she needed him, wanted him, she pulled at his clothes, his armor, willing it to disappear. Her mouth pressed against his with a moan, her tongue sliding into his mouth. She thrust her hips against his wanting to feel him. She barely realized he was walking her to their bed. 

And then she was falling, the feather mattress catching them both and he was looming over her, a wild grin on his face, his curls coming loose from the tie. 

"My Queen," he moaned hoarsely before he bent back down and captured her mouth, he pulled away and she bit on his bottom lip tugging on it. She whimpered as he kissed lower, his teeth scraping over her throat. 

His hands made quick work of her robe pulling the offending garment open, he glanced down and grinned, one hand slipping down between her breasts, over the stomach, and then between her legs. 

She whimpered, then cried out as his finger circled the oversensitive flesh between her legs. He kissed lower, teasing one breast than another. His finger rubbing teasingly slow over her. 

"Gods," she moaned, as his tongue slipped against her navel. "Fuck" she cried one of his digits slipped inside her. She spread her legs invitingly.

She wanted him, she needed him. 

His tongue pressed against her, the pleasure making her scream, tingled waves of heat spread up her like dragonfire, her vision went black, her ears rang. 

Her ears rang, and rang, louder until it twisted into words, into a song. 

Dany groaned and forced her eyes open and watched her cell phone screen flash on and off. Her alarm blaring at max volume blasting a pop song she had once loved and now hated. 

She smacked the phone with her hand, rolled to her side and pressed her thighs together, then moaned in frustration. 

She was going to kill Missendei for booking their train to Winterfell so early. 

~

"He has a wolf? A white wolf with red eyes." Dany half murmured to herself as she stared at the stone statue in front of her. A man cloaked in furs and armor, a large wolf standing beside him, it's fur painted white, eyes red. Too familiar, much too familiar. 

"Whats now?" Missendei replied coming to stand beside her friend. 

The stone statue was in the middle of a small plaza in the old district of Winterfell, just outside the hotel they were staying at. 

Missendei bent down, wiping away the thin layer of snow that had covered the plaque with a gloved hand. 

"King in the North and his White Wolf." she read out loud. "Night gathers-" Missendai began only top stop when she noticed how pale her friend looked. "What?" 

~

"Really?" Dany exclaimed, staring up in disbelief. "Really?" she repeated and almost whined at the stupid grin on her friend's face. 

Misssendei's grin grew even wider still, "It came highly recommended." 

"By who?"

"The internet." 

Dany groaned and looked up at the sign. "Ghosts of Winterfell, the King in the North." The light pointed at it flickered on and off, fake cobwebs hung from its corners. It looked old, in that way new things meant to look old did. As if throwing some paint and scuffing the wood would make something look ancient. 

"I didn't tell you so you could make fun of me," Dany muttered more to herself than anyone. Suddenly regretting telling her friend about the dream, the wolf and what had happened in the bar's bathroom. 

Missendei chuckled, "You saw a dog, then had a kinky sex dream and somehow think they're connected to a stupid ghost story. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't make fun of you?" She grabbed her hand, "Come on, it will be fun, it will be nice to learn more about your dream lover." she grinned wickedly and Dany could only roll her eyes. 

Inside was larger than she had expected. There was a long winding hallway with viewing booths on the sides. Begrudgingly Dany followed the couple as they made their way to the first booth. 

Lights mounted on the ceiling flickered to life illuminating a small scene. Mannequins dressed up in northern gear, behind them a cheap castle backdrop made up of what looked to be cardboard and cloth that would be at home in a primary school play. 

"The North... Winter... was a... King..." 

All three of them looked up at the speaker above them as it screeched, a narrator's voice cut in and out through the static. 

"Highly recommended?" Dany offered sarcastically, and Missendai responded with a shove her shoulder. 

The lights flickered off, then back on this time focused on a child-sized figure standing alone near the back of the scene. 

"...alone... outcast in his very home..." the narration said, barely breaking through the static of the half working speaker. 

"Awwwww," Missendei whined dramatically, "poor King," before all three of them moved to the next booth. 

The next was a scene of men training with swords, thankfully the speaker there was not nearly as bad. After that it seemed to King was to leave Winterfell to go the Wall. 

After that- they all heard the whining of the machine before anything had happened, the speakers cracked, the lights flickered, and all three of them turned in anticipation, waiting for a moment before a hidden door opened to their left and a foam zombie sprung out from the wall. 

"Brains!" another tinny speaker behind the zombie growled as it was jerked around awkwardly on its mount. 

Dany shook her head and pushed back the rubber and foam prop. She feigned fright and made sure Missendai could see her in all her sarcastic glory. 

"Beytrayed by his own men!" a speaker screamed, surprisingly loud just as the lights died. This time she felt it before she heard it, foam swords came from the roof and sides stabbing down into them. 

Missendei jumped and Grey laughed then both ran forward dodging the harmless blades. Dany batted the foam away suddenly annoyed that this stupid place had actually made her jump. 

"How much did you pay for this? Because whatever it was it was too much." Dany yelled out to Missendei. 

She paused in front of the next scene bored out of her mind, the lights flickered on and off. She glanced to her left then right, trying to figure out where the next foam monstrously would shoot out from. 

"Betrayed," the speaker said again, this time clearer, louder. 

The next scene was similar to the last, men grouped around another. But these looked different, much more real, she couldn't see the plastic or foam that stuck out from all the previous props. She stared at the scene in front of her, just as frozen as they. 

"Missendei?" she muttered, glancing further up the hall for her friend.

"For the Watch," one of the figures said then stepped forward knife in hand. She caught the eye of the man in the middle, it was him. 

She gasped with him as the knife plunged into his gut. The sound of it, slick steel on flesh and muscle, it hadn't sounded like anything from a speaker, it sounded real and they didn't look like props. 

"For the Watch," another man, and another knife was driven into his stomach. She could almost feel it, ripping and tearing through through skin and bone, blood pooled from the wound, the man’s face went pale, he looked at her, a hollowness in his eyes as he dropped to his knees. 

She felt ill, it looked too real, like she was seeing something she was not supposed to see. She was watching a man die, she turned away and hurried forward, barely glancing at the next scene of a corpse laid out on a table. 

"Missy!?" She yelled hurrying forward. 

She slowed seeing a figure ahead, thankful to find her friends, they would mock her for being afraid but she didn't care. 

It turned around, not Missendei, but a man. Its eyes chalky white, loose grey skin peeled from its face revealing decaying bone below. It was dead and rotting and so very real. 

She gasped and nearly fell over backwards before she hit the wall behind her. 

The thing stared at her for a moment with its dead eyes before it twisted forward and took a single step as if it was testing if it’s leg could hold its weight. She heard the bone crack. Then it took another. With each movement it’s flesh hung loser, exposing bone and rot black muscle underneath. Black putrid liquid oozed from it’s eyes and mouth and from open wounds on its body, and the smell, it smelled like rancid meat left out in the sun. Another step and it’s leg finally gave out, its leg snapping, its foot twisting sideways under its weight, she heard the thud of the now shattered bone hitting the ground. It limped forward not caring. 

She couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She had too- She reached behind her grabbed a sword from one of the scenes not caring that it was plastic before swinging it wildly at the monster. It was enough to push it back, sending it falling onto its ass. 

She ran, the red glow of an exit sign being the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. 

But she slowed as she neared her salvation, the final scene. It was him again, alive. This time he was knelt down in a ruined snow-covered throne room. 

"No," she whispered, as she looked down at what who was holding. It was her, a knife in her chest. His knife. 

He looked at her, met her eyes, and whispered, "I'm sorry." 

She ran, bursting out of the exit with a huff running face-first into Grey and Missendei. 

~

"I think I'm going crazy," Dany admitted, leaning her head back against the headrest. The hot springs felt amazing, after everything the near boiling hot water was cleansing. She laid back into the seat built into the pool and let her limbs float. She would simply stay here for the rest of the trip. No more tourist traps, no more haunted houses, no more ancient ruins. Screw the world-famous spas and restaurants and wonders of the world and screw ghosts especially. 

"It's just dreams, new location, stress, all that." Missendei offered reassuringly. 

"And what happened at the haunted house? It's more than-" she shook her head, "-you're right of course," because really what were the other options.  _ That she was being actually haunted? _

"Or maybe" Missendai began a mischievous smile on her face. 

Dany eyed her. 

"The Dragon Queen was Valaryian was she not? I mean dragons and all shit that was their whole deal right?" 

"And what of it?"

"You're a Valaryian, maybe you  _ are _ being haunted by the King of the North," she laughed. 

"Stop." 

"I'm just saying, from what you told me about the dream you seemed to enjoy yourself and for dead guy he's pretty hot, at least the statues are."

Dany frowned, "they're all stone and you can barely make out any features." 

"Yeah but they all have nice butts." 

"God you are the worst," Dany groaned and contemplating drowning herself to get out of this conversation. 

There was a slight pause, nothing but the soft sound of water filling the pool and for a moment Dany thought her friend would drop the topic all together. 

"What if you go with it?" Missendei broke the silence. "That's what always happens in the movies right? You find out why he's haunting you, what's keeping him here. What did that ghost guy at the wall say? He was waiting to be forgiven?"

Dany rose an eyebrow, "You believe in ghosts now? What's next White Walkers, UFO's and reincarnation?"

Missendei shrugged, "I don't, but nobody believed dragons were real until they found all those skeletons buried under the Red Keep ruins a few years back. Maybe- Maybe there's something to this." 

  
  


~

  
  


She should have been enjoying this more. She liked history, hell she had a minor in history, and Winterfell's castle was living history, thousands of years old, it was ancient to the ancients. Yet still shockingly well maintained. 

But she couldn't focus, every sight and sound put her on edge. Missendei first opinion was right, it was just stress, worry about what would happen after they graduated, undealt with feelings about finding her boyfriend of two years had been cheating on her. Good ol’ fashion, scientifically proven, not at all made up, stress. 

So she wandered aimlessly, trying to put her head together. 

The old castle was off-limits, she knew this, but she couldn't help herself and it was not like there any guards or employees around telling her she couldn't sneak off into one of the older areas. 

She walked aimlessly through the ancient hallways, there were sections of King's Landing university that were old but this was something different, this place was old when King's Landing was new. It was somewhere special, important people had lived and died in these walls. History had been made here. 

She trailed her hand against the wall, eyes half-closed, letting her fingers ride along the ridges of the aged stone. She stopped as the stone ended at a wood door. 

The door was old and derelict, whatever lock held it shut had long been removed, letting her easily enter. 

Inside awaited nothing but dust and stone, there was a large hearth but that looked like it had been sealed up decades ago. It was an empty place, cold and lonely. She felt a sudden pang of sadness, a hollowness inside her and she caught the scent of something particular, something she had smelled before, winter roses. 

"You shouldn't be here." 

The sound that escaped her was undignified, a yelp like a scream as she nearly jumped out of her shoes. She quickly turned half ready to attack whoever had snuck up on her, half ready to apologize for trespassing. 

Instead he stood there, the man from her dream, the man who she had seen die, the man who she had seen holding her, leaning against the door, watching her with a grin on his face as if he had made a joke she did not understand. 

"It's you," she whispered and felt a warmth spread over her. She turned back, the hearth was lit, the fire inside it blazing.  _ That wasn't possible. _ The layer of dust that covered every inch of the room was gone, the bed was freshly made. The room felt warm, lived in. 

He didn't really respond to her, just stared almost as if she wasn't even here. 

A thought came to her then, less thought, more a memory. This was his room, where he grew up. 

"This is where you grew up," she said and swore she had said it before. 

He nodded, "aye," and stepped forward closer to her, and she felt her heart began to pound in her chest. 

"I'm not her," she whispered, and he stood there lingering. 

"I think I'm going crazy." 

His eyes shifted slightly, and for the first time it seemed as if he truly saw her. And for the briefest moments she saw it, confusion and fear, he looked as she felt, but it was quickly gone. 

"Don't say that," he replied and before she knew it he was beside her, his hand coming up to tenderly touch her cheek as he had done before, a touch so soft it was like he was not even there. 

She closed her eyes and closed the distance between them, leaning into his warm embrace. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered, grief plain in his voice. 

"For what." 

"Everything." 

She stepped forward pressing her head against his chest. 

"You're not real," she said, "none of this is, just another dream." 

His hand came around her back, fingers spreading out. 

"Just a dream, too much stress, too much caffeine. Too much traveling, too many late nights. Not enough sleep." she muttered to herself, he did not seem to mind.

She had done a sleep study once, she knew a little bit about lucid dreaming. Dreams were fragmented memories scrambled together by your sleeping mind. Parts added and removed by your subconscious. 

How had she got here, why and how was she wandering around the old parts of Winterfell Castle. She could not remember, because it had never had happened because this was not real. 

She pressed herself closer into him. He smelled of smoke and pine needles, just had he had before, and winter roses. She swallowed hard, Missendei's word coming back to her then.  _ Go for it _

She looked up then tentatively reached out to touch his cheek, "You feel real."  _ It was just a dream, what did it matter.  _

He smiled at her, soft and sad his eyes closing with a sigh as her hand rested on his neck. 

"Who are you?"

He did not answer. 

"Are you going to haunt all my dreams?" 

_ Just go with it _ . 

He held her, rocking slightly as if to an unheard song. His eyes closed, he leaned forward until their foreheads touched. 

"I think I've gone and fallen in love with you," he whispered. 

She felt tears spring to her eyes and couldn't stop herself. Her hand reached up to tangle hair behind his head, bringing his head down.

It was slow at first, her tongue darting out to taste him, until he stepped closer, pressing himself against her. His hand on her back holding her tight, he deepened the kiss. She could feel his smile against her lips, the soft gasps of laughter as he kissed her. She grinned back at him, nipping at his lips her hand grasping his cheek then neck. 

Their hands went to work pulling and pawing at each other's clothes all the while being unable to pull apart for longer than the briefest moments. 

His hands went to her ass and she groaned into his mouth. Hot heavy breathes as he lifted, she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. 

It was a rush she could not describe as he carried her to the bed, nearly throwing them both down onto the feather stuffed mattress. 

She could feel him, hard and ready for her. She whimpered, pulling at the laces of his pants. She wanted him, needed him. His teeth scraped across her neck, down her throat over her collar. Her heart pounded in her chest, 

She tangled her hand in his hair pulling him back up to him. She didn't want that, not this time. She needed something more. 

She reached won fumbling with her own jeans, pulling at the overly tight material, her legs kicked out as she disrobed. 

His pants were much easier, a simple belt, a few strings and she had his cock in her hand, long, thick and hard. She felt him throb in her palm. 

_ It was just a dream, there was no harm in it.  _

But he felt so real, his hard body pressed against hers, the way he looked at with so much love. The way her heart pounded, her chest tightened, the wetness between her legs, it was as real as anything she knew. 

He pressed against her, she reached down, holding his cock steady, sliding across her slit, gods he was so warm, she felt like she was burning up. She urged him forward with a desperate whimper. She needed him inside her. 

She moaned, arching off the bed as his thickness spread her, that delicate mixture of pain and pleasure as he worked his hips back and forth, easing himself into her aching body. 

"Gods," she cried out, burying her face into the crook of his neck, she kissed and bit him as he began to move faster. His cock driving into her, her legs dragged up his thighs squeezing him tighter. 

They moved together as if they had done this a hundred times before, their moans and gasps filling the room. The tightness her stomach grew, the warmth spread. 

"Please," she moaned wantonly, her hips arching up to drive him even further into her. "More," she never wanted it to stop. 

"Dany," he moaned into her ear his breath hot and heavy against her. "Dany," he moaned again. 

"Jon," she screamed as she came, shuddering around him, clenching tightly to him, wishing him for him not to go. She tried to keep her eyes open, fearing he would be gone when she opened them but the pleasure was too great, too powerful, she cried out slamming them closed and held onto him riding out her release, she felt him throb inside her, his own body shuddering on top of her. 

And then everything slowed, she sank down into the mattress a little more, his weight still on top of her. She opened her eyes, half expecting him to be gone. 

He wasn't, he was still there, watching her, loving her. She felt a tightness in her chest, a warmth in her breast. She looked between him where they were still joined, their bodies slick with sweat, his stomach was riddled with scars.

_ For the Watch _ , they had killed him. The sight of his murder replayed in her mind just it had a dozen times already. She reached out between them, placing her hand over his heart. They had killed him, and he had killed her. 

She blinked back tears, thinking back to the first day on the wall. Is that what he wanted? Forgiveness for what he had done? For killing the women he had loved? 

"Is it forgiveness you want?" she asked in a hushed whisper and she felt him stiffen, his body go cold. He pulled back slightly, his face furrowed, that look of confusion and fear appearing once again. 

He shook his head, and muttered "no," then pulled away more. 

"Wait," called out, grasping for him. But it was too late, she could feel herself losing him, losing this. 

"Wait," she screamed, jolting herself upright and awake and alone in her hotel room. She glanced at her phone, swiping her hand over the screen, 3:15 AM. 

She fell back onto her bed with a huff. 

~

"Do you have any books on the King in the North?" Dany asked. 

The lone librarian in this wing, an elderly, kind-looking man, raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. Then smiled before putting his pencil down. 

"The myth or the history?" he asked. 

"The truth." she replied. 

Fifteen minutes later he put three large books down in front of her. She frowned, although really, what had she expected. 

"'We have one of the oldest collections in the known world, but most that come here are more interested in the hot springs and not old books. ‘Histories of the North.' 'War of the Five Kings,' 'Stark family history,'" the man stated, "That's your best bet for historical accuracy." 

She worried her bottom lip, unsure if to ask. "What do you think?" 

"Hmm?" The librarian murmured, turning back to her from where he stood reorganizing the books in his cart. "About the King in the North?"

Dany nodded in return as she glanced down at the book she was idly flipping through. 

"If you are asking me if I have ever seen a ghost then the answer is no. I have not." 

She must have given something away because the man's face fell slightly. 

He hummed to himself, "I used to know a boy who believed in such things though. Thought he saw the King wherever he went. As he grew older he seemed to have come to the conclusion that what he was seeing were imprints of the King's life, good and bad memories that he was cursed to relive over and over as punishment. He was a kind boy, so he wanted to help him free him." 

"And how did that work out for him?" Dany asked. 

The elderly librarian smirked. "I presume not well if people are still seeing ghosts." he cleared his throat, shifting a final book in his cart. "The boy had lived a sad life, his mother died during childbirth, and nobody knew who his father was. He was stuck living his distant family here, never quite fitting in." He stood straighter and took hold of the cart. "What I'm trying to say is that while some people use fantasy for entertainment, others use it to help them forget the problems they face in everyday life." 

Dany swallowed and nodded, was that was she doing, losing herself in a fantasy to help herself get over Daario? To help cope with the fact she less than a year away from graduating and had no idea what she was going to do with her life? 

She watched the librarian waddle away then looked down at the book in front of her. 

An hour later Missendai plopped down beside her with an overly dramatic annoyed groan. 

"A library?" she mused leaning back in her chair. "I thought you were joking when you told me where you were going. In that big of a rush to get back to studying?"

Dany rolled her eyes, and Missendai sighed, "Hows the research going?" she finally asked. 

Dany gave an exhibited huff then shoved the book she was reading away. 

"Terribly. None of this makes sense, the stories are nonsense. This character here, the Lion Knight is supposed to be the greatest warrior in all the lands but he has no hands? This other one called the Masters of Whispers is supposed to be this great spy but he spends most of his time shouting his secrets to anyone that can hear. This other book says a half different things that don't line up with anything from anything else." She lowered her voice to a hushed whisper. "I'm pretty sure these books were written by idiots." Then she buried her face in her hands and groaned. 

"You tried, what else can you do?" Missendei said with a shrug then reached over and closed the book for her. "Come on, we have reservations at the White Knife, supposed to be the best restaurant in the North." 

"Uh, I'm gonna have to pass." Dany looked away, bit her lip and hoped her friend did not notice the blush crawling up her neck. "I haven't been sleeping well, and I was going to just order room service and have an early night. You have fun with Grey." 

Missendei eyed her suspiciously, before giving in, "Suit yourself," then smiled wide, "Sweet dreams." 

~

  
  


Her bareback pressed against the stone wall, her breasts pressed flat against his chest. His fingers digging into the firm flesh of her ass. 

She gasped, mouth agape against his own as he let her go slightly, the weight of her body impaling her on his cock. He lifted her, then again drove up and into her. 

She cried out her vision blurring. She moaned, desperately trying to kiss him, lips, teeth, and tongue clashed. He strained, grunted and fucked her harder against the wall. 

They were in Winterfell somewhere, she didn't know, she had no idea how she had got here, she didn't care. Her eyes rolled back in her head, as she shuddered around him. He was fucking her hard and fast. A flurry of movement, lust and love, anger and rage. She was soaking wet, dripping for him as he took her against the wall. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she cried out, coming almost painfully hard. She clung to him, holding on to dear life as she lost the ability to breathe and think. She just held on and whimpered until he stilled, lifted her one last time and gently laid her onto the bed. She held him, as she caught her breathe, as her body calmed. 

Slow and steady she breathed, her heart slowing. But he did not, she could feel him stiff in her arms, his heart still pounding. 

He looked up at her, confused and lost. 

"This never-" he stopped, "You're not--" he shook his head as if he couldn't say the words, as if he had trouble even thinking them. He stood abruptly, then headed to the door leaving it open as he left. 

She laid there for a moment trying to catch her breath expecting the dream to fade away, to spring awake in her hotel room as she had before, but it never happened. She stood and followed. 

She caught sight of him in the hallways, now fully clothed, hair unbound, and walking with purpose. He walked outside, a blizzard raged, winds whipping snow in every direction but he seemed not to care. She followed, wrapped in the blanket she had pulled from the bed, she did not feel the cold. 

Down into the crypts he went and she followed him through the twisting corridors lined with long dead Kings and Lords until she found him once again. 

She watched him as he stood unmoving in front of the statue, she couldn't see his face but she swore she could feel his sorrow, his pain, his regret. It seeped off him like smoke. 

"I failed," he muttered to the statue, "again." 

"When I found out the truth I was so lost, confused." He stopped, looked down at his feet then down the crypts passages, he looked right through her as if she wasn't there. "When I told her I thought-” he paused, “-I didn’t know what I thought but all she cared about was her throne. So I pushed her away when she needed me most. I failed her, failed my family." 

He looked down unable to meet the statue's stone eyes. "Kinslayer," he muttered. "Oathbreaker. What would- What would your brother think of me, and Rheagar and you?" he seemed so deflated, defeated, a shell of the man she had seen in her first dream. 

He knelt down before the statue, placing a bundle of blue roses there. 

"I'm going North again. I don't think I will be coming back." he paused giving the statue one last look. "Goodbye mother." 

~

She wandered back to the room, not really sure why or how she got there and found him sitting on the bed waiting for her, his head down, as if he had never left. Not knowing what else to do she sat beside him. Without looking at her he slipped off the bed, and onto one knee. 

"You want me to forgive you?" she whispered, her hands reached up to cradle his face as he knelt before her, his head bowed, dark curls hiding him from her. 

His head shook slowly, "I don't deserve forgiveness." 

She wasn't sure where the dagger had come from but he now had it in hand. Silver and ancient, as if after a thousand years it was the only part of him that had aged. He pressed it against the scar on his chest and looked at her with tears in his eyes. 

With his free hand, he reached for hers wrapping her fingers around the blades handle. His face hardened. 

"This is what I deserve." 

Dany shook her head, "No." She pulled her hand away from the dagger but his grip was firm. "No!" she repeated. 

"I waited so long. It has to be you." his hand tightened over hers and she could feel him pulling the dagger closer to him. She could feel it pushing against his flesh. She could feel it slicing through his skin. 

"No!" she yelled and wrenched her hand free twisting her body away from him and the knife. 

When she turned back she was alone in her hotel room, covered in sweat and crying. 

~

As it turned out Winterfell's security was as easy to evade in real life as it was in her dreams. A blizzard had rolled in from the north, leaving most of the city and castle understaffed and she figured guarding empty crypts were the first job to be cut. 

She stopped in front of the statue. They had all aged so much, it was hard to tell, but this was the smallest of all of them, the only feminine looking one in the right area. 

It was a stupid idea, she knew that, stupid as hell. 

The King in the North had no grave, no tomb of his own, nothing to link him to this world. Most of the stories had him vanishing beyond the wall, but his mother, his mother was the only woman buried in the crypts from that time. At least that is what the legends had told. Maybe it would be enough of a link to him. 

She pulled out the winter rose from underneath her coat, the smell reminded her of him. She hoped it would be enough. 

She paused, shifting embarrassingly on the heels of her feet, she glanced down the hallways, and half expected Missendei and Grey to pop out of an alcove and laugh at her, tell her this was all some kind of elaborate joke. Save for the sound of her own soft breathing the crypts remained quiet. 

"I-" she paused, surprised by the hoarseness of her voice, "I know your not him," she said, looking at the ancient statue, nothing more than a vague silhouette of a person, its elegant details and carvings lost forever to time. "But you're the closest thing I have and I hope that is enough." 

She licked her lips and twisted the blue rose between her fingertips. Here she was, a year from graduating from the most prestigious university in Westeros, a dozen feet under the earth trying to talk to ghosts. 

"Maybe what you did wasn't right. Maybe it was wrong, I don't know. But what I do know is that you have suffered enough." She brushed her lips over the blue petals before placing it at the foot of the statue just as she had watched him do. 

She closed her eyes. "I forgive you." 

When she opened her eyes nothing had changed. Nothing had happened.  _ Of course nothing happened _ . What had she expected to happen? For a bolt of lightning to strike her? For the dead to rise? For a magical wizard to pop up and congratulate her? Had she been expecting him to come back? 

She let out the breathe she had been holding and looked at the statue.  _ Of course, nothing wouldn't happen _ . Ghosts weren't real, she was just overstressed and horny. She shook her head,  _ stupid.  _ then felt the sting of tears in her eyes, from embarrassment, from grief, she didn’t know, either way she felt foolish. 

She stepped away, but hesitated for a moment, her mouth opened to say something else.  _ What else was there to say?  _ Before she looked away, she had done everything she could, everything she had wanted to do.  _ There was nothing left for her here _ she told herself as she hurried out of the crypts before she ended up getting arrested for trying to break make-believe curses. 

~

The sun shone brightly the next morning, the storm had passed, leaving the shining blue sky, scattered with clouds that would look at home in a cartoon. 

She waited patiently as people began boarding the train. This time tomorrow she would be back in King's Landing, back home. She could put the weirdness of this trip behind her and move on with her life. 

"We should do this again next year," Missendei announced beside her. "Maybe Dorne?"

Dany nodded, trying and failing to not to think of anything at all. A part of her wanted to stay, to learn more, but she knew that was an impossibility. That everything she had experienced was an impossibility. Some combination of stress, and clean air, and the food. Nothing more. 

Going home would do herself good, at least that’s what she told herself when a blur of white fur caught her attention, followed by a string of curses in a northern accent. 

She turned just in time to stop herself from being bowled over by the large white husky. She froze in shock, her mind in a panic before she realized the dog had blue eyes, and while large it wasn't impossibly so. 

"I'm sorry," the man apologized, "so sorry," he repeated again pulling on the dog's leash. "He's never like this," he tried to explain. 

Dany shook her head, dumbfounded, "It's okay," she whispered, weakly petting, more like fumbling her hands against the dog who was so eagerly seeking her affection. 

She was almost afraid to look up, too see what she already knew. He looked like him, the same eyes, the same tousled hair, the same voice. 

He shot her sheepish smile as he finally got a hold of his dog and pulled him back. She watched as the man led the dog back and handed him off to another young man before the two shared a hug. 

She glanced back at Missandei, half expecting her to fade away, for this to be another dream, but her friend simply waggled her eyebrows at her and grinned so wide it looked like she was going to pull something. If her hands weren't full she probably would have been giving a thumbs up with how inconspicuous she was being. 

She had to do something, anything, but instead, she stood there dumb and deaf her mouth ajar. She watched him glance down at the paper in his hands then back up the platform, to her. 

She swallowed, he was coming back towards her. 

"Hi," she squeaked out.

"Hey," he smiled, before glancing down at his ticket once more. "King's Landing?" he asked then he shoved the papers into his pocket and smiled. 

"Uh huh," Dany replied nodding her head staring at what might as well have been the man of her dreams come to life. 

"Sorry about earlier," he shrugged with a grin, and then offered his hand. "I'm Jon." 

  
  



End file.
